CHAPTER 15
When Piper pulled into the driveway, Nat and Elias were sitting on the porch with Chloe stretched out between them. She parked behind Elias’s old pickup—a hand-me-down from Nat—and saw Nat say something to him, and then they both looked up and grinned.
“You two look like cats that ate canaries,” she said as she stepped onto the porch. Chloe thumped her tail in greeting but didn’t move from her spot near Elias’s feet. “Don’t get up,” Piper teased, looking down. “I’ll come to you.” She knelt down and scratched Chloe’s ears, making her flag of a tail thump even harder. She stood up and looked at her son. “You, on the other hand, do have to get up to give your mother a hug.”
Still wearing a grin, Elias stood, his lanky body—just like his dad’s—towering over her petite five-foot-two frame. He wrapped her in a hug. “Hi, Mom,” he said.
“Hi, hon,” she murmured. “Missed you.”
“Missed you, too.”
She stepped back and held him at arm’s length. “You look like you grew another four inches . . . and you’re so skinny! Have you been eating? We spend a lot of money on that meal plan, so you better be making the most of it!”
“I’ve been eating,” he assured her.
She smiled. “How was traffic?”
“Not bad. Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut were fine. It didn’t get bad till I got to the bridge.”
“Tappan Zee?”
“No,” he said with a laugh. “Sagamore.”
“That’s because it’s Memorial Day,” she said matter-of-factly, just in case he hadn’t looked at a calendar lately.
“I know,” he said, rolling his eyes. “It’ll be a lot easier when I’m able to fly home.”
“There’s no eye-rolling,” Piper teased. “And I doubt you’ll be able to fly home because you don’t have a plane.”
“I don’t yet,” he said with a grin.
Now it was her turn to roll her eyes.
“Hey, there’s no eye-rolling,” he teased.
She laughed. “Touché! So, what did Chloe do when you pulled in?”
“She launched herself into his cab and sat down on his lap,” Nat said, chuckling.
Piper laughed. “That’s the best welcome there is.” She knelt down again. “You missed him, didn’t you, old pie?” and Chloe thumped her tail some more.
She looked back at Elias. “She’s been sleeping on your bed, you know . . . so I don’t know where you’re going to sleep.”
“She’s just going to have to move over,” he said, loving the easy feeling of being home with the people who loved him most.
“Want a beer?” Nat asked, motioning to their bottles as she pulled a chair up next to them.
“No . . . no, thanks. I had a glass of wine at Sailor’s and I can hardly stay awake. I’m sure if I have anything else, I’ll just fall asleep sitting here.”
“That’s all right,” Nat said. “We’ll just throw a blanket over you, won’t we, E?”
“Maybe,” Elias teased.
Piper leaned back and listened contentedly to her husband and son talk about school, running, flying lessons, and the funny noise his truck was making. She didn’t feel the need to say anything. It was more than enough to just sit and listen to the lovely voices of her two favorite men. Suddenly, she felt her face flush as a wave of heat washed over her. “Are you guys hot?” she asked, sitting up.
They both looked up and shrugged. “Not really,” Nat said. “There’s a nice breeze out here.”
“Well, I am,” she said, getting up to get a glass of cold water.
She came back and sat down and watched Chloe rest her chin on Elias’s shoe. It reminded her of how, when she was a puppy and Elias was at school, she used to curl up on his shoes in the mudroom—the smellier they were, the better! She’d never forget the day Nat brought Chloe home. It had been in the fall—she remembered because she always thought the best time to get a puppy was late spring or summer so you didn’t freeze when they had to go out in the middle of the night, but Nat had showed up with the soft, golden ball of fur in his arms in early November. Chloe had been just eight weeks old, and although she’d been the only female in a litter of ten, her mom’s owner said she was just as rough and tumbley as her brothers. The first night, however, you’d never have guessed it because she cried and cried for her brothers, and although Piper tried to comfort her with an old, soft blanket, it wasn’t until Elias snuck her up to his bed that she finally fell asleep. After that, Chloe happily adopted Elias as her new brother, and they became inseparable.
Inseparable, that is, until Elias went off to college; then Chloe was lost. Every day, when she heard the school bus rumbling down their street, and even though Elias hadn’t taken the bus in years—he’d driven to school his junior and senior years—her ears would perk up and she’d hurry over to rest her chin on the window stool, watching and waiting and wagging her tail. It was heartbreaking to watch—Chloe’s heart was so full of hope, but then the bus would pass by without stopping and she’d turn and walk sadly back to her bed, lie down, and rest her head between her paws.
One more year, Piper thought. One more year and Elias will move back home. Piper knew that most parents hoped their children would become independent after college, but Piper hoped Elias would find a job nearby and move back home. She’d dreaded him going away to college and now she dreaded him moving out for good. There was something so final about it, and besides that, it made her feel old.
“I bought Chloe a present,” Elias announced, suddenly remembering the gift he’d left in his truck.
“You did?” Piper said as Chloe lifted her head.
He nodded and stood up. “Want to come see?” he asked softly, looking down at her. Chloe clambered to her feet and trotted after him. A moment later, Piper and Nat heard squeaking, and the moment after that, Chloe emerged from the shadows, proudly carrying a floppy, cream-colored stuffed animal.
“A new Zoe!” Piper exclaimed as Chloe wiggled happily up the steps.